Every Morning
by Jack E. Peace
Summary: Dani isn't having a very good morning the one person that manages to change her mood is the last person she'd go to for help: her brother. Set after the episode Tina Sharp


_Disclaimer_: Characters not mine. Too bad, I wish Junior was. Hehe

_A/N: _So, I know I'm a week late with this story but after tonight's episode, I really felt like I needed to write a little fic about Dani and her quest for her mother. I just want that girl to find her! This is actually planned as the first in a three part short-fic series, the second part I will post if the reception on this story is good. So, please review and enjoy!

Every sunrise was like the one before it as far as Dani Davis was concerned. Everyone was right when they remarked that she wasn't exactly a morning person; she would have been perfectly content to close the blinds, pull the sheets over her head and sleep the rest of the day away. But society had deemed that such a practice was not acceptable, deciding that teenagers were destined to rise with the sun and cart themselves off to school to soak up some higher education. Dani often believed that sleeping in was a much better way to spend her time then to file into an academy filled with people too rich and snobby for their own good. Dani had tried to tell her brother this but he accused her of being in a bad mood before zipping off to meet the stable hand, leaving her to sulk in her poor mood and pace around her house until she wore a hole in the carpet.

Dani would have been inclined to believe her brother when he said that her mood wasn't exactly the sunniest, seeing as she could find nothing good about her current state of mind. She figured that everyone was inclined to go through a period where nothing could make them happy and had decided that you had even more of a right to do so when you had no idea who your own mother was. Just thinking about it made Dani's stomach churn and she groaned, shoving her face deeper into her pillow.

Every morning that had to wake with the knowledge that she was motherless poor-little-rich-girl was a bad one and Dani figured that explained her need to stay in bed. Every morning when she woke to the same sunrise and went into the same bathroom and studied the reflection that she had seen for most of her teenage years, she was forced to question just what it was about her that made her mother skip out on her when she was just a baby. Her mother must have seen something in her that even Dani herself missed to make her leave before her child was even old enough to properly remember her. And so she spent a good ten minutes wondering, every morning, just what was.

And every morning it was something different. Too fat, too skinny. Dani had left that phase behind quickly; she wasn't the type of girl to agonize about her body. Not smart enough, which could have been true; it had certainly caused her to up her studies. Not fun enough. Well, studying had certainly taken away a bit of her social life. Not involved enough, not pretty enough, not witty enough, not a good person, too good of a person, not talented, not…Dani hadn't realized just how many things could be wrong with a person.

But one thing that she had realized several mornings ago was that she was tired of getting up every morning only to turn over her faults and go about her day wondering why she didn't have a mother. Why she didn't have a person in her life to agonize over these things; all she wanted was a mother to tell her that she was a genius, that she was beautiful, that she was just the perfect amount of fun, the perfect amount of everything. So Dani decided not to get up anymore; that would solve all her problems.

Unfortunately, her bothersome, well-meaning older brother Junior didn't seem to believe that such problems should be solved. And so, after Dani hit the snooze button on her alarm for the fourth time and had buried her face so far into her pillow that she could feel the mattress beneath, Junior came barging into her room like a typical, flat-footed teenage boy. "Up." He commanded as though such a word would be enough to get the job down. Dani didn't justify his statement with a response. "Now. School."

Not lifting her head, Dani mumbled, "Get out, caveman. I'm trying to sleep." Her head would go no farther.

Junior pulled off the blankets and snatched the pillow out from beneath his sister's head. Sitting up, Dani glared at him. "I could have been sleeping naked, thank you." She gathered up the blankets around her once more.

Looking slightly disgusted, Junior took a step away from the bed. "I hope that image doesn't ruin my breakfast." Dani threw one of her other pillows roughly in his direction. He caught it against his chest. "Geez, sis, maybe you should have gone out for the softball team."

Continuing to glare at him, Dani flopped back onto her stomach. "Very funny, Junior." Her tone was devoid of humor. "Now get out before you see just how hard I _can _hit."

"Get out?" Junior repeated. "Is someone forgetting that wonderful oppression called school, that happens to start in an hour?"

Dani waved him away. "I'm not going." She told him. "I'm sick." She closed her eyes and turned away from him.

Inching toward her cautiously, Junior studied her back. "You don't look sick." He remarked. "You certainly aren't acting sick." Dani didn't reply. "Is this about her again?"

"Who?" Dani feigned ignorance.

Sighing, Junior sat on the side of his sister's bed. "You know who." In case she didn't, he clarified. "Our mother."

Like a sulky child, Dani mumbled, "Maybe."

Resting his hand on his sister's shoulder, Junior gave her a sympathetic squeeze. "Dani, you need to let it go." He advised. "Please. Just move on, I have."

Again her voice was pouty. "Well, you're dumb. And you're a boy, you don't understand."

Shrugging, Junior had to agree. "You're right, I don't understand. But what I do understand is that my sister is killing herself over a woman that we don't even remember, that left us behind when we were babies. She didn't need us, we don't need her."

Dani was silent for a moment. "But I need her." She whispered, opening her eyes slowly and studying the sunlight as it filtered through blinds covering her windows.

Junior tilted his head. "What?" He was certain he heard her.

"I said I need you to get out." Dani nearly shouted, turning over to face her brother. "Now, get out!" She shoved him roughly, causing Junior to slip off the edge of her bed.

Looking slightly hurt, Junior stumbled back toward the door. "All right." He muttered. "Fine." He left the room without another word, slamming the door shut behind him.

Once Junior was gone, Dani felt guilty about throwing him out; he was just trying to help, trying to understand her problems, which was exactly what she wanted a mother to do. Sighing heavily, she climbed out of bed, shuffled into her bathroom, avoiding the mirror and pulled her pink robe off the back of her door.

Wrapping it around herself, Dani headed downstairs into the kitchen, where she was certain to find Junior. Indeed, he was sitting at the counter, eating cereal out of the box and gazing out the window.

Clearing her throat, Dani got her brother's attention. "Guess I didn't ruin your appetite after all." She remarked, forcing a half smile to turn up her lips.

Shrugging, Junior shoved another handful of cereal into his mouth. Sighing, Dani headed over to him. "I'm sorry." She sat down next to him. "I am. I'm just upset, that's all; but not at you." Another sigh. "At her."

Nodding slowly, Junior studied the back of the cereal box. "I know." He glanced over at her. "I am too. Sometimes." But only lately, only since Dani had cut open old wounds.

Looking at a loss, Dani tried to explain herself. "I just wish I knew her. I just wish she was here, with us; I wish she knew us." Junior nodded and returned his attention back to the cereal box. It was easier to look at then Dani's eyes. "Why did she leave, Junior?" Her brother shrugged. "What is it about me that made her leave?" She had meant to say _us_; her eyes filled with tears.

Setting aside the cereal box, Junior turned toward her. "Don't say that." He commanded forcibly. "All right? Mom left because she was stupid, not because of you." He gently, briefly, touched her cheek. "So don't say shit like that; I thought you had given up that whole drama queen act."

Sniffing, Dani managed a crooked laugh. "Yeah." Though she didn't know what she was agreeing to. "I just wish she was here. There's so much I want to tell her."

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Junior tried to give her a smile. "Maybe you'll find her one day." He didn't quite know if he wanted that to happen or not. "Then you can tell her what a brat you are." He grinned.

Rolling her eyes, Dani swatted him on the shoulder. "Shut up." She said with a smile as well. She slipped out of her chair and kissed Junior on the forehead. "Thanks." Her brother nodded silently.

When Dani headed back toward the stairs, Junior called after her, "Want to ride to school together?" He always liked her car better, it was classier, more expensive.

Pausing, Dani turned back toward him. "No." She answered. "I don't think I'm going to school today." Without bothering to explain herself, she headed back upstairs toward her bedroom.

Stripping off the robe, she fell into bed and pulled the covers over head, attempting to block out the sunlight. Every morning she asked herself why her mother had left her. Dani wanted this morning to be different.

And so, to avoid that problem, Dani decided to cut out the morning all together. She'd tell with herself in the afternoon.


End file.
